The evolution of SLAC and its programs

In 1957 Stanford University proposed to the Federal government the construction of a two‐mile‐long linear electron accelerator. Originally called the “Monster,” the machine was to be very much larger than any that had been previously carried out under the aegis of a single university. It was also an electron rather than a proton machine, and thus not in the mainstream of particle accelerators at the time. However, it seemed clear that there was useful physics to be learned from electron scattering, and the proposal for “Project M” was well received. Renamed the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center a few years later, the proposal was accepted and funded. Ground was broken in 1962, and the accelerator produced its first beam in 1966.

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